...so I've found this list of cliches from Strange Horizons, and - I suppose this is something only those working at Interzone can answer, but how does their experience compare with over here? Whilst I recognise quite a few of those, numbers 30 and 32 seem to be downright bizarre, number 15 just seems misguided and I'm surprised that they get all that much of number 5, given that it seems to be a typically 90s thing.

Don't forget young authors submit to the magazines and they may well be relatively unfamliar with SF short fiction and it all seems new and original to them.

Evil= fat might be peculiarly American, I've not seen a lot of that.
Roleplaying into fiction I have seen but it was pointed out to me by workshop colleagues as I don't play those games. They recognised it instantly.

You can break all these rules if you are good enough. Chris Beckett got an 'Adam and Eve' story into Asimovs a few years back for instance and they are a definite no no. "Dark Eden" — published in Asimov's (Mar 2006)

Remember that a cliche isn't a cliche in and of itself; it becomes a cliche through repetition.
If D&D-esque type stories were rare as hen's teeth (mmm, cliche...) then Strange Horizons would probably be quite happy to recieve them, but if they're wading through dozens (or hundreds) of them then that's a different matter. Especially if they're from writers who don't realise that playing a game is a far more satisfying expeience than having a game described to you (witness numerous video game film adaptations ).
Plus actual roleplaying games, settings, and published charatcters are copywrited/trademarked anyway.

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